The workshop is open to both emerging and established composers of sacred and secular choral music. Three participants will be selected through an application process to work with Lydia Adams, our special guest clinician, composer Eleanor Daley and the Amadeus Choir.

Thanks to the support of our sponsors, the workshop is being offered to participants at no charge. Auditors are also invited to attend free of charge and are asked to register in advance.

Workshop format: This is an interactive workshop for choral composers who wish to try out new compositions or techniques with a live choir and conductor. They may bring a segment of a work in progress, or a recently completed work. Each session will be 45 minutes and will allow the composer to work freely with Lydia Adams, Eleanor Daley and the choir.

Composers will submit the following by the deadline date:

Registration form – name, address, contact info

Letter of intent

Resumé of music education and experience

List of compositions (published and unpublished)

Application Deadline:December 1, 2018. Composers will be notified of acceptance by December 20, 2018.

Workshop Clinician Biographies

Lydia Adams

Lydia Adams, one of Canada’s most distinguished conductors, has been conductor and artistic director of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto since 1984 and of the Elmer Iseler Singers since 1998. Under her direction, both choirs have become leading choral forces in Canada, commissioning, premiering, performing and recording Canadian choral works. Lydia is also an arranger of choral music and has composed choral works which are performed worldwide.

Lydia Adams has conducted for and recorded a number of award-winning compact discs with her Toronto choirs and has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States. Hailed by the Canadian Music Centre as “the new leading exponent of the Canadian choral composer,” Lydia was named one of the CMC’s 50 ambassadors in 2009, honored for her outstanding contributions to Canadian music. Lydia’s received the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2013 and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Cape Breton University in 2018.

Eleanor Daley

Eleanor Daley has been the Director of Music at Fairlawn Avenue United Church in Toronto, Ontario since 1982. She holds degrees and diplomas from Queen’s University, Trinity College, England, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. One of Canada’s most recognized composers of choral music, her works have been widely performed, recorded and aired throughout North America, Great Britain, Europe, South Africa and the Far East. Her compositions are distinguished by a rich imagination and lyricism – enduring qualities that are immediately appealing to singers and listeners alike. Her compositions have been widely performed, recorded, and aired throughout North America, Great Britain, Europe, South Africa, and the Far East.

As well as being a highly respected choral clinician in Canada and the US, Eleanor has had the privilege of accompanying choirs under the baton of Lydia Adams, Jean Ashworth Bartle, Linda Beaupré, the late Dr. Elmer Iseler and the late Sir David Willcocks. She has been the accompanist for the Bach Children’s Chorus since 1995 and was the accompanist for the Amadeus Choir from 1991-2006.

Shawn Grenke

Conductor, pianist and organist Shawn Grenke is Director of Music at Eglinton St. George’s United Church in Toronto, Associate Conductor and Accompanist for the Amadeus Choir of Toronto, and Accompanist to the Elmer Iseler Singers of Toronto. Shawn is also the Interim Director of the 80-voice Achill Choral Society in Orangeville, Ontario.

Shawn has made international appearances as conductor, pianist and organist in Poland, at the ‘Let the Future Sing’ Choral Festival in Sweden, the ‘Le Mondial Choral Loto-Québec World Choral Competition’ in Laval, Québec, ‘Xinghai Choral Competition’ China, Seoul Korea, Roy Thomson Hall, CBC Radio, and other various festivals, concert series and recitals throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.